By Alain Mabanckou translated by Helen Stevenson African literature frequently draws on the experiences of animals to demonstrate inequality and injustice in society by considering the perspectives of the marginalised and overlooked. Those that are ‘animalised’ in society are used in order to demonstrate the violence that is inflicted on the oppressed, and provide a … Continue reading #Veganuary: Memoirs of a Porcupine
Mozambique 🇲🇿: Neighbours: The Story of a Murder by Lília Momplé, tr. Richard Bartlett and Isaura de Oliveira
My dad and step-mum are champions of this project and for my birthday this year, they gave me two books, one representing Namibia and this one. In a Nutshell: This 130 page novella is part of the AWS (African Writers Series). It is a sort of whodunnit, it takes place on the eve of Eid, starting at … Continue reading Mozambique 🇲🇿: Neighbours: The Story of a Murder by Lília Momplé, tr. Richard Bartlett and Isaura de Oliveira
Day 25: 🇨🇫 The Magic Doll
In a Nutshell: I learnt about this book, thanks to Millie Margretta. The book is beautifully illustrated with a great story. The book is narrated by a young girl, Adjoa about her mother’s desire to be pregnant and her journey towards pregnancy and birth, through the support of her husband and her Akua’ba doll. Themes: … Continue reading Day 25: 🇨🇫 The Magic Doll
Day 2: 🇩🇿 Our Riches/A Bookshop in Algiers
A lot of my reading is accompanied by a snack or a good coffee. My edition of this book is called Our Riches but a new edition was released in May called A Bookshop in Algiers. In a Nutshell: Adimi was born in 1986, the same year as me! She was born in Algiers but … Continue reading Day 2: 🇩🇿 Our Riches/A Bookshop in Algiers
Day 1: 🇸🇳 So Long a Letter
So Long a Letter was the first book in my project. It came highly recommended by a friend. And what a delectable treat this 95 page novella was. In a Nutshell: So long a Letter (Une Si Longue Lettre) was published in 1979, the edition I read was published in 2008, this edition featured in … Continue reading Day 1: 🇸🇳 So Long a Letter
Introducing our #WITMonth guest editor, Jess Andoh-Thayre
Introducing our #WITMonth guest editor, Jess Andoh-Thayre My name is Jess Andoh-Thayre, 35, from London but currently living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I am a French, Spanish and English teacher, translator, avid reader and now blogger. I am really excited about this year's #WITMonth, although this year I won't be able to read as much as normal … Continue reading Introducing our #WITMonth guest editor, Jess Andoh-Thayre
#INTLYALITMONTH Shuri #1: The Search For The Black Panther
Shuri #1: The Search For Black Panther, written by Nnedi Okorafor and Illustrated by Leonardo Romero & Jordie Bellaire (Colorist) ISBN: 978-1302915230 Publisher: Marvel Shuri #1: The Search For Black Panther shines with beautiful cover art designed/illustrated Leonardo Romero & Jordie Bellaire Shuri is busy testing out her gadgets, creating scientific formulas and throwing out gauntlets, but … Continue reading #INTLYALITMONTH Shuri #1: The Search For The Black Panther
Literature of exile: The refugee activist poet J. J. Bola
We came here to find refuge / They called us refugees / So we hid ourselves in their language / until we sounded just like them. / Changed the way we dressed / to look just like them / Made this our home / until we lived just like them. -- from J.J.Bola's poem "Refuge" … Continue reading Literature of exile: The refugee activist poet J. J. Bola
Literature of Exile: Somaliland and Nadif Mohamed
Do butterflies and moths suffer this perplexity? This ‘how did I get here?’ and ‘who am I?’ crisis? The Somali Civil War is poorly known or understood by many Westerners. After decades of colonialism, the British and Italian-controlled Somali territories united to form the independent Republic of Somalia in 1960. However, in 1988, the military … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Somaliland and Nadif Mohamed
Literature of Exile: Kenya’s Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
To read global literature is to accept the compromise of translation. Even the most polyglot among us cannot hope to read everything that interests us in its original language. English has become the somewhat grudgingly accepted lingu franca for most of the world, yet to read and write in English is to speak the colonizer's … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Kenya’s Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 